I Rule.

No I don't.  I totally do NOT rule.  I just had a rare day where I felt like "Bam!" I've got it together.  But I was tired today; so much in and out of the car (I'll touch more on this subject on a later date).

I definitely was NOT going to cook anything for dinner tonight.  And since Thursdays are wide open, I decided we'd head to P. Terry's in Lakeway.  Aaaaaand Teagan screamed the whole way there.  Thankfully she was quiet at the burger stand, so we ordered and ate in about 25 minutes.  Which was ideal because she started to wind up again and we were outta there.  

Some pics before Little Miss got loud.  When we piled into the minivan, I actually took a headcount.  That's a first!  #paranoid

Joe will be home in one more day.  I can do this.  Right?

Cookie Break

Today the amount of television that James watches was weighing on me, so we traded the boob tube for calories (pick your poison) and pulled out the cookie ingredients before the big kids came home from school.  We propped Teagan up on the counter so she could watch us, and we got to work.

We used a bag of good old, basic Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix, but doctored it up with lots of chopped walnuts, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1/3 bag of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

James played the role of Beancounter and enjoyed lining up and counting chocolate chips.  This was probably the extent of the educational portion of the activity, but hey.  And he did help stir, so there's the physical activity aspect, too, right?  Ahem.

Anyway, in case you're wondering, the cookies were delicious and fresh out of the oven when the kids came running in.

Missin' Toof

Today James lost his first tooth.  Such an exciting milestone when you're small.  He's just turned 5 and by gosh, that bottom tooth has been hanging on for dear life.  For over two weeks!  Finally after I'd given it a good wiggle and vigorous tooth brushing at bedtime tonight, we discovered it standing straight up the toothbrush bristles!  Into the Tooth Fairy pillow it promptly went.  😀

And thank you to the Tooth Fairy, whose impending arrival hastened the bedtime routine (see second pic).

Ahhh, Business Travel

Ahh, business travel, how I loathe thee.  Necessary evil, but still.  Joe gets to spend almost 4 days in Boston.  I'd REALLY be jealous if he'd been able to book a nice hotel room somewhere, but there is nothing available.  Everything was booked so he's staying with his parents.  Which is still nice because I'm pretty sure there won't be a wee lass looking to nurse in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, I'll be here in the trenches If you're looking for me.  I have a seven-week-old.  The last thing I want is to do the graveyard shift by myself three week nights in a row.  It's also the kickoff week of sports practices up the wazoo.  But I get that business travel strikes from time to time, and honestly, we have it really good with Joe's job and the flexibility and proximity to the house it offers us.  Anyway.  Wish me luck.  I'm gonna need it.  

Preschool is back!

First day for James, with his sidekick Teagan

Benched :)

Outside the classroom door

Back to school today for Mr. James Wyatt!  And a mom's breakfast for me!  Teagan slept in her car seat the whole time, making for a very lovely time.

Now we just need to work a little on perfecting our group selfie!  Haha.

Real Housewives of Travis County, haha

What did you just say?!

"I HATE YOU!!!"

That was a first.  My 5-year-old screamed this at me today and it really stunned me.  We treat the word "hate" like a bad word in our house.  But sometimes I catch myself saying, "I hate when I do that," etc in everyday conversation, so unfortunately my kids hear it every so often.  My two biggest kids are old enough to know they can't use this word, and they don't.  My third child is more audacious and daring than the other two ever were.  Warnings often go unheeded.  He's a bolder child.  He has no problem saying things he shouldn't, and that can be a problem.  

He's especially had a hard time transitioning from summer to school year over the last week.  At the root of today's naughty behavior was the Wii.  During the school year it's a weekend-only (Fri, Sat, Sun) activity; in summer, it's available to the kids on a daily basis, more or less.  So, James has been struggling with switching from summer to school mode.  This morning, before preschool orientation, I took him to a neighborhood playground to burn off some energy and distract him from video games. 

This tactic worked, but only for a while.  After we returned from orientation and he'd polished off his lunch, I caught him playing WiiU upstairs while I was nursing the baby.  Mind you, this is after I busted him yesterday doing the same thing, and took away his right to dessert after dinner.  Such a tearful scene last night that I figured I'd gotten through to him.  Wrong!  I suddenly realized today that the house was a little too quiet.  This time, he'd craftily turned off the volume so I wouldn't hear the jingle-jangle of Super Mario Bros.  He even crept downstairs silently when I called up to him and asked him what he was doing in the upstairs playroom.  He snuck into my first-floor studio and called out that he was looking at my jewelry.  So crafty!  And funny, because he's so little, yet had planned his actions so carefully.  

I had to punish him, though, because he broke his promise from yesterday and had lied to me on top of that.  I walked him up the stairs to his room and told him it was time to lie down for a while.  He lost it, of course, and screamed "I hate youuuuuu!!!!!" at the top of his lungs.  The old me would have yelled back that that was a very bad thing to say, and got caught up in the moment.  I would have lost it too.  My frustration would have added fuel to his fire.  Maybe because I'm running low on sleep, or maybe because I know in my heart he doesn't really know what he's saying, or maybe because I'm older and been there-done that, I just turned around quietly, told him not to get up until I told him, and closed the door.  

Later this evening, before bed, we spoke about what he said to me.  He apologized.  I asked him to imagine how he'd feel if I'd said that to him.  His face immediately fell and he was very sad.  I think I got through.  For now.

Parenthood.  Always challenging.  Deep breath.    

    

Food Excursion: Black's BBQ

Black's BBQ, Lockhart, TX

Labor Day Weekend.  100 degree temperatures means not much outdoor activity, and a lot of time in restaurants.  On Saturday with no sports games scheduled, we jumped in the Minionvan and took a ride out to Black's BBQ in Lockhart, Texas--population 12,996.   A quiet town and definitely the biggest thing going there is Black's.  About a 45 minute wait in line, and then we were seated.  Luckily we were in the shade alongside the building, otherwise it would have been brutal and we'd have been tempted to abandon our plans.

Here are some photos.  Overall, I'd rate it "Good."  Stiles Switch downtown is still my favorite (Joe's too).  Still worthy of a trip to check out.  As with all barbecue places, Wear Elastic-Waist Pants.  Haha.

Get ready to wait in line for a long time.

Carving up the brisket

Chowing down, Texas style

Ambience.

And the list of Barbecue joints we've tried so far, in the order we like them best:

Stiles Switch (Austin, TX)
Rudy's BBQ (Austin, TX)
The County Line (Austin, TX)
The Salt Lick (Driftwood, TX)
Black's BBQ (Lockhart, TX)

Allegedly, the King of All Barbecue is Franklin BBQ in downtown Austin.  It's a several hour wait.  I have to amp myself up for that one...and wait for the temps to drop!  And find a sitter for Teacup.  :)

Also on my list of places to try is Stubb's, another Austin original.  And Smitty's, which I think is back in Lockhart.

I was never much into bbq until I moved to Austin.  And now....yummmmm.  One of the hazards of life in Austin!  :)